Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland

For those who love anything and everything about Christmas, there is a retail store in Frankenmuth, Michigan that they must visit at least once in their lifetime.  The name of this festive store is, obviously, Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland and interesting enough, its address is 25 Christmas Lane!

Founded in 1945 by Wally Bronner, Bronner's Christmas Wonderland is currently owned and managed by Bronner’s family members.  Visited annually by over two million people, the store promotes itself as the "World's Largest Christmas Store" as its salesroom is 2.2 acres in size (which is roughly 1.7 football fields) and its beautifully landscaped grounds cover 27 acres.    One would have no problem finding the store because many large outdoor decorations, such as Santa Clauses, Christmas ornaments, snowman, can be found scattered all over its gigantic parking lot area and the buildings within the complex are all designed with Alpine architecture.  At night, over 100,000 lights illuminate Bronner’s half mile long Christmas Lane.  Inside the store, there are approximately 800 animated figurines at various locations and its inventory, exceeding 50,000 trims and gifts, includes glass ornaments, artificial trees, Christmas lights, collectibles and many, many other Christmas decorations.  If one loves to decorate and/or celebrate Christmas, this IS the place to find unique and unusual Christmas gifts and items.

In 1992, with the permission of the Austrian government and in keeping with the German theme of Frankenmuth, Bronner's built a replica of  the Silent Night Memorial Chapel (from the town of Oberndorf , Austria), as a tribute to the Christmas hymn "Silent Night".

Department 56 collectors visiting Bronner’s will have trouble keeping their money in their wallets or purses as the store carries most (if not all) products that Department 56 produces.   As a matter of fact, Department 56 created an exclusive Original Snow Village building to commemorate the very first Bronner store opened in 1954 that was built by Wally Bronner’s father and uncle.